Before the kiddos came along, I used to go to yoga classes weekly. Once I was more homebound, I had my favorite DVD and would do it only every few months or so, and then when I did, it was with kids screaming for attention in the background (so restful!) or doing what I call "combat yoga" - where I do a pose (bridge, or downward-facing dog) and the kids would scramble to get underneath me as fast as they could. ALL of them. I was so afraid I would squash them! I kept asking myself why I didn't do yoga more often when I loved it so much.

Last week, right before I fell asleep, it came to me: we have to start doing yoga again. So now Paul and I have been getting up early; we let the kids know that we're doing yoga and that they may join us when they're ready (ready means: did a pee, washed their hands, gotten dressed, straightened their bed, put their pjs under their pillow and undies in the laundry). So far it's worked so well I'm afraid to talk about it, lest I jinx it. We're downstairs in Paul's studio, starting our day peacefully, while whatever squabbling over the bathroom and who has what underwear is all taking place far above us (did I mention the studio's soundproofed?). Angela likes to get done as fast as possible and wiggles herself inbetween us, and if I'm not careful, she steals my mat. Petey likes to sleep in, but when he comes down he sits on the sofa quietly with a book. With Sophie, it's 50-50. But so far, we've been stretching and they've been quiet, so I'm pretty happy about it.

I also got to join a yoga group at my friend's church. We practice in the entryway (it's huge) and afterwards, anyone who wants to, gets up, goes into the main part of the church, and we pray/meditate in front of the blessed sacrament. It was very very interesting not only to do yoga again somewhere other than my living room, but energizing to practice it amidst another group of Catholics - nothing much was said out loud, but we knew we were all focusing on the same Spirit.

I'm also going to start downloading episodes from Yoga Today so we have a little more variety; much as I like Rodney Yee, I can almost recite his routine from memory. Do you have a favorite DVD to recommend? Anything with "stress relief" in it is great, not looking for "power" or anything where they say "leap to warrior pose!"